This invention relates to characterizing a threat plume or threat cloud, identifying components disbursed within the atmosphere due to the plume, and more specifically, to methods and systems for characterizing the shape, size, and constituent components present in a plume.
A plume is herein defined as a sub-volume of space in air, or water containing constituents, for example, pollutants or other agents, that are found in the greater fluid volume. Currently, plume characterization and constituent component identification, for example within an airborne plume is accomplished through remote optical methods or through the utilization of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a plurality of complex sensors. However, these solutions provide a limited capability in that they cannot accurately and rapidly map a plume in three dimensions. More specifically, the above mentioned current solutions provide a limited capability to accurately and rapidly map, in three dimensions, all of the size, shape and density characteristics and component constituents of an airborne plume.